Nail puller



Dec. 24, 1957 H. cAsE NAIL FULLER Filed March 18, 1955 IN V EN TOR.

HELA case".

ATTOQMEYs United States Patent NAIL PULLER Hela Case, Bellingham, Wash. Application March 18, 1955, Serial No. 495,094

2 Claims. (Cl. 254-24) The present invention relates to tools for pulling nails.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a nail puller of sturdy construction, one economical to manufacture and assemble, and one having a minimum of parts.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a nail puller which tightens automatically on the shank of a nail under the head of the nail when the nail puller is forced upwardly using the claws of a claw hammer as alever.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a nail puller of light weight and compact size which may be carried in a pocket, and one which will grip most sizes of nails with equal pressure.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the annexed drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the present invention,

Figure 2 is an elevational view in cross section on line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a side view in cross section on line 33 of Figure 2, showing in dotted lines a hammer head engaged therewith,

Figure 4 is a vertical view in cross section on line 4-4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a detailed view in cross section on line 55 of Figure 1, and

Figure 6 is an elevational view similar to Figure 2 showing the jaws of a nail puller engaged under the head of a nail as in use.

Referring in greater detail to the drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, the present invention consists of a nail puller having a pair of upstanding arms 10 and 11 disposed in face-to-face confronting relation and connected together at their upper ends by a horizontally disposed link 12, the link 12 loosely connecting the arms 10 and 11 for pivotal movement from the face-to-face position to a position with their lower ends swung away from each other. The lower ends of the arms 10 and 11 are provided with cooperating jaws 13 and 14, respectively, and the nonconfronting faces of each of the arms 10 and 11 are provided with outwardly projecting cam faces 15 and 16, respectively. An upstanding block 17 is carried on the arms 10 and 11 intermediate the ends of the arms and is connected to the arms for limited sliding upward and downward movement on the arms, the block 17 being fabricated from a pair of plates 18 and 19 arranged in spaced parallel relation and are connected together at their upper ends by a centrally disposed pin 20 and at their lower ends by a pair of pins 21 and 22, one at each end thereof. The pins 21 and 22 form short shafts for a pair of cam rollers 23 and 24, respectively, which engage the cam faces 15 and 16, as shown in Figure 6,

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. when the jaws 13 and 14 embracingly engage the shank of a nail 25 adjacent to its head 26.

Each of the arms 10 and 11 are provided with cutaway portions intermediate of their ends to form a slot 27 providing a guide for the pin 20. The upper ends of the arms 10 and 11 are provided with complementarily arranged teeth 28 which slide upon each other and provide a guide means for the arms 10 and 11 so that the arms 10 and 11 do not slide relative to each other and so that the jaws 13 and 14 are kept in exact alignment. Each of the arms 10 and 11 pivot about a horizontal axis on the link 12.

The one plate 19 from which the block 17 is fabricated is provided in its exterior face with a pair of horizontally disposed recesses 29 and 30 and with an overhanging shoulder 31 at the top of the recesses to provide a means for engaging the claws of a claw hammer as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3 and indicated by the reference numeral 32.

In use, the slot 27 provides gripping means for the fingers to swing the arms 10 and 11 away from each other a distance sufficient to admit the shank of a nail driven into a structure. After the head of the nail has been caught between the jaws 13 and 14, the end portions of the claws of the claw hammer are inserted within the recesses 29 and 30 under the shoulder 31 and the hammer head is fulcrumed upon the surface of the structure into which the nail is driven and the handle of the hammer is swung in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 3, the cam rollers 23 and 24 automatically tightening the jaws 13 and 14 around the shank of the nail by their pressure upon the cam faces 15 and 16, respectively. Pins 33 and 34 pivotally connect the upper ends of the arms 10 and 11 to the pair of plates which make up the link 12. The plates which make up the link 12 are sufliciently sturdy that a hammer may be used to drive the jaws 13 and 14 downwardly in a spread apart position, one on each side of a nail head sunk into a structure.

What is claimed is:

1. A nail puller comprising a pair of upstanding arms disposed in face-to-face confronting relation, a horizontally disposed link loosely connecting the upper ends of said arms together for pivotal movement about horizontal axes from the face-to-face position to a position with their lower ends swung away from each other, cooperating jaw means on the lower ends of said arms for gripping the shank of a nail adjacent to the nail head when the nail has been driven into a structure, a cam on the nonconfronting face of each of said arms, cooperating guide means on the confronting faces of said arms, an upstanding block bridging said arms intermediate the ends thereof and connected to said arms for limited sliding upward and downward movement thereon, and a pair of cam rollers carried on said block each engageable with the adjacent one of said cams and operable to move the associated one of said arms toward the other one of said arms, said block being provided with a recess in one side thereof and means for receivably engaging the end portions of the claws of a hammer head fulcrumed upon said structure.

2. A nail puller comprising a pair of upstanding arms disposed in face-to-face confronting relation, a horizontally disposed link connecting the upper ends of said arms together for pivotal movement about horizontal axes from the face-to-face position to a position with their lower ends swung away from each other, cooperating jaw means on the lower ends of said arms for gripping the shank of a nail adjacent to the nail head when the nail has been driven into a structure, a cam on the nonconfronting face of each of said arms, cooperating guide means on the confronting faces of said arms, and upstanding block bridg- 1 ing said arms intermediate the ends thereof and connected to said arms for limited sliding upward and downward movement thereon, a pair of cam rollers carried on said block each engageable with the adjacent one of said cams and operable to move the associated one of said arms toward the other one of said arms, said block being provided with a recess in one side thereof and means for receivably engaging the end portions of the claws of a hammer head fulcrumed upon said structure, said arms being provided with complementarily arranged cut-away portions on their confronting faces intermediate the ends 66,032 Marden et a1 June 25, 1867 505,815 Capewell Oct. 3, 1893 1,174,363 Starr Mar. 7, 1916 2,596,831 Whitmoyer May 13, 1952 2,691,505 Hursh- Oct. 12, 1954 

